A Mets Fan's Starting Season: Week 1

I'm learning what it's like to be a Mets fan. It can be very disheartening, to say the least. It's difficult for any fan to watch their favorite team lose. As I have been strongly forewarned, watching your favorite team lose is something that a Mets fan must get used to.

But I'm learning everything I can about the Mets so that I can properly call myself fan. I do not want to be the girl who says that they'll follow a team but then only does so for attention or to fit in. I want to be a true fan who knows more about the Mets than their team colors and their mascot.

I am constantly logging on to Espn.com to read the Mets' news page and learn. So far I've learned some very basic but interesting and important things. I've learned what the Grapefruit league is, many of the players' names, and I've started feeling out who I like and who I don't. (I like Jason Bay but I'm not such a fan of John Maine.)

I've also learned how enrapturing a baseball game can be. Last Wednesday night I decided to watch the second Mets game of the season. I missed the home-opener due to work and wanted to watch the first game that I could, since I've never watched a televised baseball game in its entirety.

The game was scheduled to air from 7:10 to 9:30. I thought, "Ok, that's do-able. I've had One Tree Hill marathons that lasted longer than that." So I sat down, ate dinner, and watched. Four-and-a-half-hours later and I could barely pull myself away from the TV.

The Mets gave up six runs by the top of the sixth, came back to tie it 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth, and ended up playing a 10th inning. This game was so exciting! I sat down at 7:10 thinking that I could handle a couple hours of baseball. By 10 pm I was making small promises to myself so that I wouldn't have to turn the game off and sleep.

I kept thinking, "Ok, when 10:15 comes around, I will turn this game off." Then, "Ok, at 10:30 I am definitely turning the game off." Then I thought, "Ok, at 11:00 I absolutely positively have to turn the game off." By 11:15, with my early morning alarm looming and still needing to shower, I turned the game off. But even then, I still took the quickest shower of my life so that I could race into my room and turn the game back on.

The Mets ended up losing that game, when Florida scored a final run in the top of the 10th, but I went to sleep smiling. I didn't expect to love the game this much and being a new Mets fan felt incredible.

When you fall in love, there's a certain amount of heartbreak that's expected. In relationships that usually comes in the form of a fight. In baseball it comes in the form of a loss. So far, I've experienced four of these baseball heartbreaks, with two to Florida and two to Washington.

But I knew what I was getting into when I made this decision and I'm absolutely sticking by it. So far I've learned that being a Mets fan is exciting, frustrating, time consuming, and enthralling. In any case, I like being a Mets fan and am eager to learn more.